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Ecuador Reacts to U.S. Watch List of Intellectual Property Rights

The government of Ecuador released a statement on Thursday dismissing the headline of an earlier article by the Spanish international wire service EFE that Ecuador is on a United States “black list” of countries in violation of intellectual property rights. The EFE story was an interpretation of an annual report, also released on Thursday, issued by the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) titled “Special 301,” which evaluates U.S. trading partners on their protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights. The Ecuadorian government said that the EFE headline misconstrued the intentions of USTR and that the report was not a black list.

The second section of the Special 301 report gives country-specific details and is divided into two parts titled ”watch list” and “priority watch list.” Ecuador appeared on the watch list of last year’s report, but has been elevated to the priority watch list for 2015. The report states, “This decision is based on Ecuador’s 2014 repeal of its criminal [Intellectual Property Rights] provision….the current lack of criminal procedures and penalties invites transnational organized crime groups that engage in copyright piracy and trademark counterfeiting to view Ecuador as a safe haven.”

The statement released by Ecuador’s Ministry of Foreign Trade on Thursday highlighted a section of the report indicating that the U.S. will reconsider downgrading Ecuador from its status on the priority watch list if Ecuador “reinstates the repealed provisions or adopts new acceptable procedures and penalties by December 30, 2015.” The Ministry of Foreign Trade remarked that such a statement in the report “implies a tacit recognition of the process of regulatory change that [Ecuador] conducts.”

The statement by Ecuador’s Ministry of Trade also asserted that it is working on improving its compliance with international standards on intellectual property rights and foreign trade. On April 23, the Ministry of Foreign Trade asked Ecuador’s Justice Commission of the Assembly to accelerate reforms that would criminalize offenses against intellectual property. The reforms outline penalties against offenders that include 31-45 days of imprisonment and fines consistent with the value of stolen intellectual properties. Thursday’s press release by the Ministry of Trade stated that the Justice Commission of the Assembly will consider the reforms in the coming days.

The proposed reforms were reportedly issued to protect trade relations with other regions of the world. Ecuadorian Minister of Foreign Trade Diego Aulestia stated on April 23 that if Ecuador fails to address proper compliance with international intellectual property standards, it would have “serious consequences for national interests”.

The USTR report listed a total of 13 countries on its priority watch list— Argentina, Chile and Venezuela join Ecuador on the list.

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